Bulldogs slug way to playoffs

A 3-run first gives Matt Reppert all he needs in 10-2 win over Scranton.

College Baseball

May 01, 2004|By John Heilig Special to The Morning Call -- Freelance

DeSales brought its hitting shoes to Limeport Stadium Friday night for a game with MAC Freedom Conference opponent Scranton.

The Bulldogs staked starter Matt Reppert to three first-inning runs, and that was all the ex-Dieruff righthander needed as DeSales won, 10-2, to clinch a spot in the Freedom Conference tournament.

"The playoff express has left the station," said DeSales coach Tim Neiman, whose team has won the last four titles and five of the last six.

Reppert held the Royals to six hits and struck out nine in notching his fourth win against only one loss. He threw 127 pitches in his fourth complete game of the season.

"Usually we don't go that high," Reppert said of his pitch count. "I sort of forced [Neiman] to let me go in the ninth inning. I felt I could do it, so I just went out there and decided to go for it."

"He's not pitching again until next week so I left him in," Neiman said. "But if they had put a runner on I would have taken him out."

Mike Cohan was easily the hitting star for DeSales (19-11, 10-6). After Dan Fratantoro doubled to open the first inning, Nolan Neiman plated him with a triple to right center. Ian Hauze scored Neiman with a single through the box, and Cohan brought him home with a double to right.

"It's nice to get out of the chute and score early," coach Neiman said. "It takes some of the pressure off."

The DeSales bats went cold for a couple of innings while Scranton (6-16, 4-12) patched together a couple of runs to edge to within 3-2.

In the second, the Royals Dominic McNulty's single knocked in Dennis Johnson after he had singled, and the two combined for Scranton's second run in the fourth on a Johnson double and a McNulty sacrifice fly.

Reppert said he felt some of the Scranton players were tougher than others to get out. He felt "the big guy," first baseman Dennis Johnson, was the toughest.

"There are some guys you just can't get a pitch down to them," Reppert said. "It's not even the guy in the box. It's probably all mental. There were some guys I heard about and just went out there and threw. When we scored the three runs in the first inning I knew we'd be alright."

Reppert added that it "got scary" when Scranton came back. "We sort of stopped for a few innings and I went nuts," he said. "You get real confident when you're up by seven."

DeSales woke up again in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Hauze opened with a single to center and Cohan brought him home with a mighty home run over the 354-foot sign in right center.

Kyle Peters made it to second when the rightfielder misjudged his fly. Matt Lezinsky scored Peters with a triple to left and scored himself on a single by Derek Miller

The Bulldogs added three more in the seventh on a walk to Neiman, a double by Hauze a ground out by Peters and a single by Lezinsky.

DeSales had 12 hits in the game, seven for extra bases. Hauze and Miler each had three hits.

"The kid [Scranton starter Kevin McGrath] was throwing good against us the whole game," Cohan said. "I kind of felt it, he was throwing fastballs the first pitch. So I went up there expecting fastball and I got it good."

Cohan added that DeSales' offensive punch over the last two games (18 runs against Muhlenberg Thursday) was a sign of increased motivation. "We were down and had a few bad losses early on," he said. "Now we're coming around with our bats."

"We didn't execute a couple of things that could have put some distance between us early," Neiman said. "We need to play a whole lot better defensively. We made way too many errors. We've been down the [playoff] road and the excitement's churning again. We try to peak when it matters and we are peaking now."